{"id":2632571,"date":"2026-07-20T10:47:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aoc-walks-off-rally-stage-early-to-avoid-potentially-damaging-photo\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:50:17","slug":"aoc-walks-off-rally-stage-early-to-avoid-potentially-damaging-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aoc-walks-off-rally-stage-early-to-avoid-potentially-damaging-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"AOC Walks Off Rally Stage Early to Avoid Potentially Damaging Photo"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Faoc-walks-off-rally-stage-early-to-avoid-potentially-damaging-photo%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2632571&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a rally in Michigan, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was observed leaving early to avoid being photographed with a controversial candidate, William Lawrence, whose past remarks criticizing black Democratic leaders have sparked backlash. Critics believe her departure was intentional to distance herself from Lawrence ahead of the 2028 presidential election and to maintain support from the Black community. Lawrence had previously made provocative comments about Black political leaders and later issued a public apology for his past statements.Meanwhile, some on the left consider Ocasio-Cortez a potential presidential candidate, with figures like Zohran Mamdani supporting her, although established strategists like James Carville doubt her chances due to political considerations, especially among Black voters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly left the stage early during a rally Sunday evening to avoid being seen with a controversial Michigan congressional candidate.<\/p>\n<p>Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Michigan this weekend for what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/playbook\/2026\/07\/20\/backstage-with-aoc-in-michigan-01004744\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politico<\/a> described as \u201ca three-city swing\u201d on behalf of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and controversial Michigan congressional candidate William Lawrence.<\/p>\n<p>But after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ex-democrat-strategist-says-aoc-not-ready-primetime-world-stage-fumble\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taking the stage<\/a> in Lansing on Sunday to promote the two men, she avoided even uttering Lawrence\u2019s name, according to David Sivak of the DC Examiner.<\/p>\n<p>Then after the rally, she took off early and skipped what Politico described as a \u201chand-hoisting curtain-call photo-op\u201d with Sen. Bernie Sanders, El-Sayed, and Lawrence.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udc40 Notable at today\u2019s El Sayed rally in Lansing: AOC didn\u2019t mention William Lawrence once in her remarks and stepped offstage before Lawrence locked hands with El Sayed and Sanders at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Lawrence, a progressive running for Tom Barrett\u2019s House seat, has come under fire from\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David Sivak (@DISivak) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DISivak\/status\/2078901973881921675?\">July 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The lawmaker\u2019s critics and observers strongly suspect her snubbing of Lawrence was intentional. Lawrence, a progressive, has faced heavy backlash for having dared years earlier to criticize black U.S. political leaders, the majority of whom are Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/surging-progressive-once-said-black-democratic-leaders-defang-the-white-left_n_6a51a01ae4b084b03f7f0f6d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HuffPost<\/a>, he made the controversial remarks during a 2024 recording of his podcast, Hegemonicon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe extent to which the older generation of black political leadership are such a pillar, frankly, for establishment, capitalist, imperialist American power through their role as this kind of traditionalist, establishment-ist pillar of the Democratic Party, it\u2019s a big problem,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a big problem for left politics in this country. And it gets us every single time. It really defangs the white left and puts us in impossible positions, really,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The remarks recently went mega-viral, prompting outrage from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/despicable-al-sharpton-blames-trump-national-guard-murder-perpetrated-biden-immigrant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">black leftists<\/a>. Lawrence subsequently published a post to the social media app X on July 11 expressing regret for his previous remarks:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I want to address a comment of mine from two years ago that was reported today in the Huffington Post and has raised some concern. My words are being taken out of context and weaponized by my political opponents, and I want to set the record straight.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024 I hosted a podcast\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 William Lawrence (@WeWill2026) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WeWill2026\/status\/2076015931227250722?\">July 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s observers and critics suspect she purposefully distanced herself from Lawrence so as to not lose support from the black community going into 2028, a presidential election year.<\/p>\n<p>All this comes at a time when many on the left, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, are either directly calling for the lawmaker to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/aoc-quietly-takes-first-steps-toward-potential-2028-presidential-run-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">run for president<\/a> or expressing support for her potential candidacy.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Zohran Mamdani thinks that his comrade, AOC, would make a good President:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all have to take a step back and appreciate what it is that she means to so many across this country\u2026 I think she would make a good anything\u2026she\u2019s a great Congresswoman.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lfysnQPwYs\">pic.twitter.com\/lfysnQPwYs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RNCResearch\/status\/2078524536660598803?\">July 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Longtime Democratic Party strategist James Carville is a rare exception, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/17\/us-news\/james-carville-says-aoc-has-no-shot-at-democratic-nomination-for-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think AOC is remarkably talented, let me be very clear about that,\u201d Carville said Thursday on the \u201cGreta Wire\u201d podcast. \u201cHer staff work is pristine. But she\u2019s not gonna run for president because she\u2019s not gonna have any chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The belief among her critics is that she\u2019s especially \u201cnot gonna have any chance\u201d if she gets off on the wrong foot with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/polling-finds-pete-buttigieg-less-popular-black-voters-former-kkk-leader\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">black voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly exited a rally early to avoid appearing with a controversial Michigan candidate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2632572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-07-20T102733.311.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[8334,50410,5894,4433,50531],"class_list":["post-2632571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-aoc","tag-controversy-2","tag-politics","tag-rally","tag-video-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-07-20T102733.311.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2632571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2632574,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632571\/revisions\/2632574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2632572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2632571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2632571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2632571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}